Question

Read the following excerpt from Levitt and Dubner’s Freakonomics.

The data also show that smaller offices are more honest than big ones. An office with a few dozen employees generally outpays by 3 to 5 percent an office with a few hundred employees. This may seem counterintuitive. In a bigger office, a bigger crowd is bound to convene around the bagel table, providing more witnesses to make sure you drop your money in the box. But in the big-office/small-office comparison, bagel crime seems to mirror street crime. There is far less street crime per capita in rural areas than in cities, in large part because a rural criminal is more likely to be known (and therefore caught). Also, a smaller community tends to exert greater social incentives against crime, the main one being shame.

Which idea from this paragraph supports the claim that “smaller offices are more honest than big ones”?
Small offices generally pay better than larger offices.
Large communities tend to have less crime.
Large offices gather around the breakfast table.
Small communities have more incentives against crime.

Answer 1

Small communities have more incentives against crime.

Explanation: The paragraph argues that in smaller communities (or offices) people are more likely to be known and therefore feel social pressure (shame) not to steal, which explains why smaller offices are more honest.